ART CREDIT–> <!– CUTLINE TEXT Plugged in: "I was in constant contact," Mayor Martin O'Malley says of his dealings with police and fire officials.
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It was about 3 p.m. Wednesday. Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley had just left the annual J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clambake at Somers Cove Marina in Crisfield. He was in good spirits, having attended one of the state’s main political gatherings.
But miles away, a 60-car CSX train, No. L412-16, had derailed and caught fire in the 1.7-mile tunnel that runs under Howard Street.
As he crossed the Frederick C. Malkus Jr. Bridge in Cambridge, his cellular phone rang. It was Michael Enright, his chief of staff. There was a train wreck. At first O’Malley misunderstood. The mayor’s staff often calls problems they encounter “train wrecks.”
“You’re not kidding,” he said.
“No,” Enright replied. “This is a legitimate derailing of a train in the Howard Street Tunnel.”
Minutes later, Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris called. Then Tony White, the mayor’s press secretary, was on the line. From then on O’Malley’s cell phone rarely fell silent. It became his primary link to the frantic scene miles away. He told Enright to call him every 10 minutes.
“I was in constant contact,” O’Malley said.
The mayor rolled into town about 6 p.m. and headed straight to the Police Department’s command center. There, officials were plotting road closures on maps projected onto large screens. They also were phoning people on the scene of the five-alarm fire. From Norris’ office, they monitored the traffic flow on Interstate 83. By early evening, Norris decided to close the major highways into the city.
O’Malley, confident that he had the right people in place, hung back. But it was hard not to take direct control. “I had to try not to call [Chief Carl] McDonald every 30 seconds,” he said.
So much was unknown. Could there be an explosion? What chemicals were on the train? O’Malley paced in the command center.
“He talked to everybody,” said White, “anybody and everybody that had a role to play in this.”
Three hours later, he moved on to the news media center set up at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Black smoke billowed from the tunnel across the street at the old Mount Royal train station. The mayor’s staff wanted to get O’Malley on the air.
“The thing was he would go on television when we had something to tell people,” said White.
But there was little to say. Firefighters had entered the tunnel from both ends but been pushed back by the thick smoke and heat that reached 1,500 degrees. So, O’Malley waited.
But about 10 p.m., with local stations gearing up for their news broadcasts, he went on the air.
“We just felt it was vital for people to see his face, so he could put people at ease,” said White. “Let’s face it, people put a lot of stock in him.”
He left the news center about 11:30 p.m., having done a half-dozen or more interviews. It was time for a late-night dinner. He, Enright, Norris and a few others headed to Flemings Prime Steak House. After dinner, he went to Camden Yards where another detachment of firefighters tried to approach the smoldering wreck. About 1:30 a.m., Enright went home to his downtown apartment. Less than three hours later, O’Malley was calling him, saying there was work to do.
“I just threw on some clothes and hustled down here,” said Enright. “I looked at him and said, ‘You didn’t go home.’ And he said, ‘Nah. I just stuck around.'”
They had to coordinate with the state to implement a liberal leave policy for city and state workers in time for the early morning news broadcasts. With a wrecked train stuck underground, the mayor’s staff told Orioles’ management that the day’s early game would have to be canceled.
To some, O’Malley seemed almost arrogant as he talked about the cancellation, saying the team “could play anywhere they want so long as it’s not Camden Yards.”
As the sun was coming up, the mayor stood before television cameras. At 7 a.m., with a one-day’s growth of beard and wearing a leather bomber jacket, he told Matt Lauer of NBC’s Today show, “It’s slow going.”
At 9:30 a.m., a piece of City Hall business popped up. Kevin Davis, the mayor’s appointee to the Employee Retirement System Board of Trustees, had to be sworn in before the board met later in the day.
“Let’s not wait,” O’Malley told Enright. “I know what I want to do. I want to get my guy on the board.”
An hour later, he was back on the scene, preparing for another news conference. He was still in his blue shirt from the day before.
“Last night was awful,” he said. “It was like having a parade in the middle of downtown at rush hour.”
Then, after a few words with Jane T. Nishida, state secretary of the environment, he left for City Hall, where there was more work and a few hours’ sleep.
Sun staff writers Del Quentin Wilber and Kimberly A. C. Wilson contributed to this report.
